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Men’s Basketball Uses Big Second Half to Defeat Augsburg 69-56

Led by five players in double figures, the Gustavus Adolphus men’s basketball team outscored Augsburg 42-24 in the second half en route to a 69-56 MIAC win over the Auggies Monday night in Minneapolis. Phil Sowden (Sr., Brooklyn Park, Minn./Park Center) scored 13 points to lead the Gusties, while Jay Stien (Sr., Arlington, Minn./Sibley East) added 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Gustavus took an early 2-0 lead on a layup by Trevor Wittwer (Jr., Redwood Falls, Minn./Redwood Valley), but Augsburg used a 20-7 run to build an 11-point lead at 20-9 with 9:25 remaining in the first half. The Gusties cut the deficit to as little as three points in the final seconds before intermission, but a layup by Zach Krumwiede with two seconds left gave the Auggies a 32-27 advantage at halftime.

The Gusties used a 6-0 run at the start of the second half to retake the lead. After battling back-and-forth through much of the period, Kane Sivesind (Jr., Madison, Wis./Memorial) scored five straight points near the five-minute mark to give the Gusties the lead for good. Gustavus used a 12-for-12 performance from the charity stripe in the second half to help put the game out of reach.

During the game, Sowden eclipsed the 500-rebound mark for his career, making him one of only a handful of Gustavus players to record 1000 points, 500 rebounds, and 200 assists. The last was Doug Espenson, who finished his career in 2005 with 1281 points, 519 rebounds, and 201 assists. Sowden also moved past Gary Gustavson (1122 points; 1967-71) for 21st place on Gustavus’ career scoring list with 1123 career points. He needs four points to move past Junior Skoglund (1126 points; 1945-48) for 20th place all-time.

Jon Cassesns scored 14 points to lead the Auggies, who fall to 8-9 overall, 5-9 in the MIAC. Gustavus improves to 10-7 overall and 8-4 in league play and will host Bethel University Wednesday evening in St. Peter.